Has the QR Code been cracked?
Like most of us I am a member of multiple groups on LinkedIn and I try to check each one out once a month (if not more often.) On a recent visit to the group page I came across the QR Code Strategy & Creative Group. This made me think “Have QR codes ran their course? Do I have any recent examples of utilizing a QR code?”
The answer was yes!
Let me explain with these examples three.
Example 1:
Recently I added a QR code to my business card that links to my LinkedIn page. Obviously, I feel I am very important. My mother will concur. Now I am thinking I should have linked it to a video where I introduced Optima and myself.
Example 2:
A few weeks ago I’m sitting in a booth at an eatery waiting for my food to come while checking Twitter on my iPhone. I look over to my left and see the carousel of salt, pepper, fake sugar, ketchup and steak sauce. What catches my eye is the Heinz ketchup bottle. It has a QR code on it.
I look at the QR code wondering why someone would care to scan it to learn about ketchup. Then I realized the code was linked to a trivia game that you and others at your table could play while waiting for your food. I had to enter an email address to play so I assume the ketchup coupons will be coming any day now.
Example 3:
When we print new or updated set up instructions at optima we add a QR code that links to video set ups that assist customers in the field. Also, to help customers sign up to receive our marketing emails at a show reception, we added a QR code to each tables center piece.
Lastly, Check out this link I found in the LinkedIn QR Code Strategy & Creative Group. It discusses how QR codes are being used in Japan and gives examples of uses from Virtual Supermarkets to Grave Stones.
After thinking it through and seeing how often they are used, QR codes probably have not run their course – maybe they are more common than ever! I believe the “get a QR code on everything just because ” concept has settled down, but due to its quick readability and great storage capacity, it will remain a great tool in certain applications.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on QR code, p lease share in the Comments below.
Have you seen any creative uses for QR codes?
About the Author
Derek Leftridge is the Marketing Coordinator of Optima™. He has been involved in many aspects of the Trade Show Industry since 1993. He is now
involved in Social Media and E-Marketing for Optima™.
Leave a comment
Check out our Lifetime Warranty
Print, Fabrication, Creativity, Technology 
Derek, Check out a geolocation game called Munzee. It’s like Geocaching, but the Munzee deployer adds a sticker with QR code to the back of a sign in a park, or some other location you might never see if you didn’t play the game. There are three Munzees in Valiant Park, just south of Optima Graphics. Players get points for the codes they scan. It does require a smartphone with the free app to play… but everybody has a smart phone these days.
Derek, you might also want to check a company http://www.ekeeko.com. They are helping every brand in connecting with their customers and their customers can also scan & buy products
I was doing a bible study recently with a group, and a guy had a special study bible. At the end of various lessons was a QR code – when scanned, an 8 to 10 minute video would play. The video was a professor from a university explaining the significance of the passage. I have also seen QR codes at museums to get more info.